The amount of energy that enters a residential or commercial building. Includes small-scale solar electricity generated and consumed on-site, such as. EPA has determined that source energy is the most equitable unit of evaluation for comparing different buildings to each other. It incorporates all transmission, delivery, and production losses. The Canadian adaptation of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager includes a. For our purposes, energy is commonly measured in Btus (U. units) or kWh (metric units); for reference, the definition of a Btu, or British thermal unit, is the energy it takes to heat one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.
What is a site energy measurement?
For buildings that purchase raw fuel (such as natural gas) and convert it to power on-site, a site energy measurement would account for the losses that occur during this conversion, because site energy is based on the fuel that is purchased.
What is site energy?
You're probably already familiar with site energy, which is the amount of heat and electricity consumed by a building as reflected in your utility bills. Looking at site energy can help you understand how the energy use for an individual building has changed over time.
Site energy may be delivered to a facility in one of two forms. Primary energy is the raw fuel that is burned to create heat and electricity, such as natural gas or fuel oil. Secondary energy is the energy product created from a raw fuel, such as electricity purchased from the grid or heat received from a district steam system.
What is the difference between source energy and site energy?
Source energy is the amount of primary energy consumed in supplying secondary energy to a building. The power generation, transmission, and delivery of source energy to the site results in losses. As a result, source energy is nearly always less efficient than site energy.